Global Warming Series

Lecture-discussions to promote science literacy among the general public

Keeping Up With Global Warming:

The Problem That Won't Go Away

A Series of 3 Illustrated Talks on the Science of the Sun, Earth, and Its Atmosphere

August 18: The Physics of Global Warming and Cooling

We live in the best part of the solar system for life to exist on Earth, not too hot and not too cold (the “Goldilocks” zone).
Since the 1800’s, however, the Earth has been getting hotter.

How do we know?

How hot will it get?

Has Earth ever been hotter in the past?

What does heat from the Sun have to do with floods and hurricanes?

What does heating of the Earth have to do with the level of the sea rising?

How are human activities adding to the heating of Earth?

Scientists are no longer debating the reality of global warming -- it is happening.

This first part of the three-part series will explain the physical science of Earth’s normal heating and cooling, and the factors leading to the increasingly rapid rise in temperature over the past 200 years.

No previous knowledge of math or science is needed to understand the illustrated presentation.

Please note: Attending all 3 talks will provide the best background to understand this environmental problem, as each talk builds on the information from the previous one. However, attending any one or two of them will give you some understanding of this increasingly worrisome problem for all inhabitants of this beautiful planet.

Instructor: Barbara-Ann G. Lewis, PhDMs. Lewis is Associate Professor Emeritus, Environmental Engineering, at Northwestern University and a former Environmental Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory.